Confederate cannons stuck in river bed 150 years restored

June 16, 2019

FLORENCE, S.C. (AP) — Civil War cannons that sat on the bottom of the Pee Dee River for 150 years are now restored and on display at a veterans center in Florence.

The cannons are from the Confederate ship Peedee. It was built to break the Union blockade of the South, but its cannons were tossed into the river in 1865 and the ship scuttled as Union troops approached.

University of South Carolina archaeologists recovered the cannons in 2015, and scientists at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center in North Charleston have spent four years restoring the cannons.

The cannons belong to the U.S. government. The Florence County Museum agreed to display them at the Florence County Veterans Center to honor how all veterans sacrifice to serve in wars.